


Making the Man

by passing-fanciful (kageygirl)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-18
Updated: 2014-11-18
Packaged: 2018-02-26 05:06:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2639195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kageygirl/pseuds/passing-fanciful
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Killian Jones always dresses the part.  No matter what part he's playing.</p>
<p>Mild spoilers through 4x04, "Bella Notte."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Making the Man

_"Some people say striking."_

Killian Jones, newly minted lieutenant in His Majesty's Navy, blushes when the serving ladies in the tavern comment on his good looks, size him up with naked appreciation in their eyes, draw a hand over his when setting down his drink. His looks are nothing he's responsible for, nothing to be proud of; a circumstance of his birth, but nothing he's earned. 

Far more precious to him is the look on Liam's face when he pretends to straighten the shoulder boards on Killian's jacket (an excuse, he knows, to clap him on the back, for he did the same with Liam's epaulets). The new gold braid gleams in the sun, but it's no match for the gleam in Liam's eyes as he looks on his younger brother.

Both braid and jacket follow Liam down into the depths, and the only gold Killian retains any interest in is that which they liberate from the king's coffers.

* * *

Captain Jones, newly minted scourge of His Dishonorable Majesty's Navy, begins to use those good looks to his advantage, for he and his crew have precious few other advantages to fall back on. Shot and canvas, tar and rope, it all costs money, and raising the crimson flag does not instantly fill their hold with doubloons.

He learns to pay attention to signs he'd always politely ignored before: color rising in cheeks, fluttering eyelashes, smiles that are shy or suggestive or both. He grows bolder in his mannerisms but retains his manners, and finds that flattery will take him very far indeed; he trades on his looks and his body and his growing reputation to secure favorable deals with merchants (or their spouses) to keep the _Jolly_ and her crew fed and fortified. He begins to take care when crafting his wardrobe, choosing his clothing to both titillate and intimidate, determined to use every weapon in his arsenal for their ongoing campaign against the king.

His appearance, it seems, can be a formidable weapon indeed. 

But that weapon turns out to be double-edged; it draws the attentions of a lovely dark-haired lass, a woman who warms his heart and his bed. The end of that path, though, is cold and lonely, dark and devastating, and Captain Jones ends up shedding both his skin and his name.

* * *

Captain Hook, newly christened and outfitted, suits form to function and function to form, honing himself to a chiseled point on the dangers of Neverland. By the time he returns to the Enchanted Forest, the perilous dance he's had to perform with Pan has rendered every move he makes into a performance, and he utters no word that's not calculated for effect.

He works his way toward his revenge with every tool at his disposal, using his charms to survive even a pair of murderous witch-queens bent on destroying one another. While luck may abandon him, skill and wit fail him, those charms never do, carrying him ever forward.

Until the day a golden-haired beauty with an eye as keen as her dagger sees past the pretty face and prettier lies, sees him more bare of skin and of soul than anyone has in a very long time, and he finds his sharp point blunted by scaling a beanstalk.

When she leaves him behind, his rage and betrayal harden to a bitter resolve. He draws the mantle of Hook more tightly about him than ever, and pretends not to notice how frayed the edges suddenly seem. His revenge is nearly at hand, the purpose of his long life nearly achieved, and none of his plans necessitate a future beyond that.

In the land without magic, everything is different; every person in town has a second face, a second life, a second _chance_ , it seems. Once each of his plans has failed and he finds himself facing down the end of all things, he's afforded a choice, a luxury that's been denied him for longer than he can recall.

He can live on, as he is, be Captain Hook, terror of the high seas, with nothing to look forward to and no one ever to know him as anything else.

Or he can join these people in a gamble that is beyond desperate, throw off his tattered threads of self-interest, become someone new once again.

_I can change, Bae. For you._

And so he alters his course, and in so doing, alters his fate.

* * *

_"You look…"_

_"I know."_

Killian Jones, resident of Storybrooke, is still finding his place in this world. Even in his new attire, more appropriate for this land, his past weighs heavily on his shoulders; it's a burden he fears he may never cast off, nor may he ever deserve to.

But redemption _should_ be earned, not given, and the prospect of hard work has never deterred him. And in all his long life, he's never felt more handsome than when Emma Swan graces him with a smile.


End file.
